Rivercider

That is interesting. I do remember reading that sometimes bus companies face delays in delivery of new vehicles due to various problems with the manufacturer(s), so that makes sense. cheers

If it is NUH975 then as Moxy has mentioned it would have been registered in Cardiff. Looking at some old City of Cardiff bus fleet lists I see some buses registered around the same time. Guy Arab IV MUH316 to MUH330 were registered in 1956 and 1957. Guy Arab IV OUH343 to OUH354 were registered in 1959. Therefore presumably NUH975 would have been registered in Cardiff in 1958. cheers

I must admit that when visiting an exhibition I sometimes feel that the operator has been distracted by their conversation with me. If an then incident occurs I have sometimes then jokingly mentioned that he will be getting a 'please explain' or a Form 1. cheers

I spent almost all of my 30 year railway career behind a desk, though mostly in a train operating environment, and I have never even seen one, much less been issued with one. To the best of my knowledge none of my former colleagues ever got one either. As TOPS clerks we got got closely involved with freight train running, and once a couple of us were asked questions about a Speedlink service that ran without a brake van (for dangerous goods requirements), but that was as far as it got, cheers

I must have caught 31135 with the unusual livery soon after it was repainted then. Here is 31135 stabled in the down platform bay at the west end of Taunton 23/6/82 cheers

In addition there was also South Wales Freight (was this a metals or coal sector area?). Based on earlier replies to this thread was there an Anglia Freight and a South East Freight, or were they combined? Note also that in the 1980s the new Anglia Region was formed out of the ER, cheers

There was also a fish dock siding at Bristol Temple Meads, behind platform 2 at the west end on the up side of the line. King class 6023 King Edward II spent some time there awaiting restoration in the 1980s. cheers

The LSWR Exmouth branch opened in 1861. It was built as a single line, but with provision for doubling the whole route. The LSWR opened a number of halts in the Exeter area in 1906. In 1908 additional halts were opened on the Exmouth branch between Exeter and Topsham and the branch was doubled between Exmouth Junction and Topsham (a distance of 4m 26ch) to cater for the increased traffic, which included railmotor services. To give an idea of traffic there were 18 or 19 trains to and from Exmouth daily, with another nine motor trains worked as far as Topsham only. Edit - also a couple of daily return goods services, and another which ran to Topsham only, there were a couple of private sidings on this section of line which complicated matters for pathing, which might have added to the need for doubling this section. cheers

Was this part of the OFQ (Organising for Quality?) re-organisation?. In 1991 I left the Bristol Area Freight Centre for a clerical job in the newly formed West of England Freight office at Westbury. West of England Freight was part of the Railfreight Construction sector. I left the office in 1992 having got demoralised with the paperwork and returned to Bristol TOPS. The West of England Freight Area subsequenty became part of Mainline Freight, with the exception of the West Devon/Cornwall area which became an isolated part of Transrail. cheers

I have found one document, the Exeter Traffic District Sectional Appendix dated March 1960. Both the Brixham Branch and the Tiverton Branch 'The auto, or ordinary train, when consisting of not more than three coaches....' will be worked without a guard. cheers

Am I imagining it, or were some services worked by auto-trains permitted to run without a guard? I am thinking of the Brixham and Clevedon branches for example, cheers

I took a few photos in the late 1970s and early 1980s. 31408 Hornsey 4/10/80. 31411 Kings Cross 7/10/78. 31415 Newton Abbot 5/11/81 31424 Newton Abbot 5/11/81. Cheers

I am not really familiar with the differences between the various types of coil carriers, but I do remember the train service you are thinking of. There was an out and back steel sector working from Llanwern/Severn Tunnel Junction to and from Hamworthy. It ran for a number of years, with headcodes 6O99/6V99, possibly sometimes downgraded to class 7. The routing changed over the years, and the train could convey import and export steel traffic through Hamworthy, but also traffic for Pressed Steel at Swindon, and a steel terminal in Southampton. There are a number of photos of 6V99 on Flickr, cheers

It might partly depend on how often a layout has been exhibited, and how widely it has travelled. Over the last 15 years I have been to an average of about 10 exhibitions a year, almost all within the West Country/Wessex area. There are quite a number of good and interesting layouts I have seen several times, and would happily spend time watching them again. There is also the occasional older layout that I find at a show that perhaps has not often been exhibited in my local area so I am seeing it for the first time. Some of these veteran layouts are quite old, but if they still run well then I am pleased to see them cheers

I agree. On a dull day, and in shadow, the GWR livery looks almost black to me, with no hi-lights to lift it, cheers

In the 1980s a small compound was built within Lawrence Hill yard Bristol just large enough to hold two, or three, TTAs of LPG - this was a new traffic to the yard at the time. Edit - you have already mentioned nuclear flask terminals, here is Bridgwater Yard 47202 shunting the nuclear flask compound at Bridgwater, 9/8/83, cheers

Interestingly when I was looking at Ventnor West at Railwells on Saturday I caught the back half of a conversation about this scene between child and an adult. The adult replying that although the pilot was the enemy he would still be looked after properly. cheers

A few more photos from behind the scenes. In the carriage workshop 14/8/2022 Edit - I have just realised that this photo makes the real thing look a bit like a model, (to me anyway). Carriage restoration 14/8/2022 At the rear of the locomotive repair shop. 14/8/2022 In the loco repair shop, 1361 class no.1363 undergoing major overhaul. 14/8/2022 cheers

A few of the other photos I took during the tour at Didcot, Various signalling gear 14/8/2022 Rectank tar wagon dating from 1898, 14/8/2022 Inside the Transfer Shed with replica Iron Duke. 14/8/2022 Frome Mineral Junction box 14/8/2022 cheers

I would also like to thank Drew for arranging another interesting entertaining and informative tour. Also to the two Mikes, and the others who looked after us around Didcot. I took quite a lot of photos during the day, here are a few of the better results. First a few from around the loco shed. 5322, 4079 Pendennis Castle, and DL26 14/8/2022. 1340 Trojan 14/8/2022 3738 and 6998 Burton Agnes Hall, 14/8/2022 2999 Lady of Legend had just finished the morning steam working, 14/8/2022 cheers

On Sunday while walking around Didcot on the excellent tour arranged by Drew (Castle) we went past the chimneys again, this time in sunshine. They are all chimneys off Castle class. Didcot GWS 14/8/2022 cheers

The Pressed Steel plant in Swindon was on the former Highworth Branch. I must have run off dozens, probably hundreds of TOPS train lists in the 1980s and 1990s up to 1999, for services to Longbridge, first VDA, then VGAs (fitted with stillages), then the modern private owner bogie vehicles. cheers

Revenue earning services in or out of South Marston must be pretty rare. During my stints in Bristol and Westbury TOPS (1978-1985 and 1996-1999) I don't remember any at all. I see on Flickr there is a photo of 66193 leaving in 2010, the caption says the train ran each Thursday, cheers

This relates to Pressed Steel Swindon, rather than Cowley, but may be relevant. When I was working in the Bristol Area Freight Centre (1978-85) we took over responsibility for the Swindon area in the early 1980s. I remember at least some of the steel coil traffic for Pressed Steel Swindon came from South Wales, though when it started I don't know. By this time the train service pattern seemed to changed every year as the vacuum braked network declined and Speedlink took over. I think the coil originally arrived as part of a wagon load service rather than a full block train, but full train loads might well have also run. I do remember that the wagons used were vacuum braked, and quite a variety of types including 'W' prefixed former GWR stock. Later newer air braked stock was used. Here is a later example. Passing Undy and running in to Severn Tunnel Junction yard is 37237 with 6C36 Speedlink service from Llanwern to Swindon Cocklebury, note that not all traffic will be for Swindon, 25/9/86. cheers

When I enjoyed the excellent guided walk around Didcot GWS in 2018 I took this photo. Didcot GWS 29/7/2018. cheers